Consensual Romantic Relationships

As in any situation where adults spend time together, it is possible that NYIT employees may wish to engage in a consensual romantic relationship. There are specific instances where this violates NYIT policy. If you are a faculty member, you must not participate in a consensual romantic and/or sexual relationship with any student who is enrolled in any of your classes. You are also discouraged from participating in this type of relationship with any student. If you are a staff member, you should not participate in a consensual romantic and/or sexual relationship with anyone who is subject to your supervision or evaluation. There is a power differential in these relationships that could compromise your ability to perform your job duties in an unbiased manner. In addition, there is a danger that the consensual nature of the relationship could later be reinterpreted as non-consensual and therefore create a potential for sexual harassment.

We recognize that two people may already be engaged in some type of consensual relationship before one of the above-listed situations occurs. In this case, whoever is in the "supervisory" position, whether as an employee or a professor, must make every effort to place the student or subordinate employee in another situation. If this is not possible, the conflict must be resolved in another manner – the student must drop the class, one employee or the other must resign, or the relationship must end. For the purposes of this policy, employees who are or were married are considered in a consensual relationship.